METALS-London metal prices rise on weaker dollar, Brexit boost

Reuters Staff

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(Adds Shanghai closing prices, updates London prices)
BEIJING, March 12 (Reuters) - London base metals gained
ground on Tuesday, with copper rising by the most in a week, as
a softer dollar and improving investor sentiment after changes
to a Brexit deal lent support to prices.
A weaker greenback makes dollar-denominated metals cheaper
for holders of other currencies.
"The overall market sentiment is heating up," said Xu Maili,
head of non-ferrous metals research at Everbright Futures in
Shanghai. This is also reflected in gains in the ferrous
complex, equities and crude oil prices, he added.
Xu remains bullish on copper in the medium term even after
an 8.4 percent gain for the metal so far this year, with
possible fluctuations due to profit-taking, he said in a note.
"Furthermore, it will take time for the rising copper prices
to be accepted by the downstream industry," Xu added.
FUNDAMENTALS
* COPPER: Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange
rose as much as 1 percent, the most since March 5, and
was up 0.9 percent at $6,461.50 a tonne, as of 0712 GMT. The
most-traded May copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange
closed up 0.9 percent at 49,450 yuan ($7,364.33) a
tonne.
* COPPER: Production at Chinese miner MMG Ltd's
Las Bambas copper deposit in Peru could fall "in the near-term"
due to a month-long road blockade by a community that was
relocated to build the mine, the company said.
* BREXIT: European Commission head Jean-Claude Juncker said
on Monday he agreed an updated Brexit deal with British Prime
Minister Theresa May to make the agreement more palatable to UK
lawmakers but warned they would not get a third chance to
endorse it.
* TRADE: Chinese Vice Premier Liu He held a telephone call
on Tuesday with U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and U.S.
Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer on key issues in their
trade talks, state news agency Xinhua said.
* U.S. DOLLAR: The dollar index fell 0.2 percent to
97.07 on a modest improvement in risk appetite.
* OTHER METALS: Nickel was the biggest gainer in
base metals on the LME, rising 1.6 percent to $13,100 a tonne;
while aluminium added 0.5 percent and zinc,
Monday's top performer, climbed another 1.1 percent.
* ALUMINIUM: Queues to take aluminium out of LME-approved
warehouses owned by ISTIM UK in Port Klang, Malaysia rose to 229
days in February from 118 days in January and zero days in
December.
MARKETS NEWS
* The pound and Asian shares jumped on Tuesday after the
European Commission agreed to changes in a Brexit deal before a
vote in the British parliament on a divorce agreement that has
unnerved financial markets over recent months.
PRICES
BASE METALS PRICES 0719 GMT
Three month LME copper 6461
Most active ShFE copper 49460
Three month LME aluminium 1858.5
Most active ShFE aluminium 13535
Three month LME zinc 2770
Most active ShFE zinc 21590
Three month LME lead 2090.5
Most active ShFE lead 17410
Three month LME nickel 13085
Most active ShFE nickel 102500
Three month LME tin 21080
Most active ShFE tin 147000
BASE METALS ARBITRAGE
LME/SHFE COPPER LMESHFCUc3 -948.79
LME/SHFE ALUMINIUM LMESHFALc3 -902.22
LME/SHFE ZINC LMESHFZNc3 -425.56
LME/SHFE LEAD LMESHFPBc3 454.7
LME/SHFE NICKEL LMESHFNIc3 -805.01
($1 = 6.7148 Chinese yuan)
(Reporting by Tom Daly; Editing by Joseph Radford and Sherry
Jacob-Phillips)